Like a scene out of a Bond film, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping have been caught plotting how to achieve immortality. During the ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Beijing yesterday, the Russian and Chinese leaders—both 72 years old—spoke to each other in what they thought was a private conversation, conducted through interpreters and aired on Chinese state television. “Biotechnology is continuously developing,” Putin told Xi. “Human organs can be continuously transplanted. The longer you live, the younger you become, and [you can] even achieve immortality.” Xi appeared to express interest in this, claiming that “some predict that in this century humans may live to 150 years old.”
The science behind these assertions is dubious, to say the least. But that hasn’t deterred Putin from obsessing over his health and lifespan. One investigation found that Mikhail Kovalchuk, who is close to Putin, is at the head of a research programme into immortality. Reports suggest that he is funding organ-harvesting technology that uses lab-grown cells to produce replacement organs. Putin’s eldest daughter, an endocrinologist, has also received millions of dollars’ worth of grants from the Kremlin with the aim of studying cell renewal and how to extend human life.
It makes perfect sense that the likes of Xi and Putin would be interested in prolonging their own lives—and, presumably, their reigns. But it also speaks to a very human desire to live forever. It may well be one of the oldest human obsessions. Western mythologies, folk tales, and literature are filled with fantastical stories about people who attain immortality and sacred objects that might grant it—the Philosopher’s Stone, the Fountain of Youth, the Holy Grail. For as long as we have been telling each other stories, we have been preoccupied with tales of immortality.
Of course, the ability to live forever was not always seen as a positive thing. The Wandering Jew was cursed to walk the Earth forever until the Second Coming. Prometheus was given a regenerating liver, only for it to be eternally picked at by the eagle. Zombies, vampires, and ghosts are all suffering through a kind of immortality, from which there is often no release.
For anyone who believes in an afterlife, the prospect of spending eternity on Earth is probably not that appealing. As a Christian, you believe in life everlasting in Heaven. Muslims look to Paradise after the Day of Judgement. Hindus and Buddhists seek a release from the cycle of death and rebirth. Even the ancient Greeks and Norse believed that life continued in Elysium and Valhalla after this world. The physical body withers away, while the soul lives on.
In our atheistic times, this is no longer the case. People might have a vague sense that there is something after death, but there are no guarantees. We see more and more people obsessed with the idea of keeping their physical vessels alive—or at least looking youthful—for as long as possible. Being healthy and staying fit nowadays isn’t just a case of eating right and exercising. It’s a confusing, if not slightly bogus, science. ‘Biohacking,’ plastic surgery ‘tweakments,’ vampire facials, and endless supplements are all standard features of the modern discourse on self-care.
As extreme as this already is, some take it even further. If you spend a decent amount of time on X, you will likely have come across a man called Bryan Johnson. He’s a tech billionaire who made his fortune developing devices that monitor brain activity. But he is more famous for his preoccupation with not dying, at all costs. Johnson is 47 years old and dedicates what looks like practically all his time to tracking his every bodily function. He has a team of 30 scientists measuring his weight, heart rate, blood pressure, urination speed, and even how long his nighttime erections last. He exercises for one hour a day, every day, takes 50 supplements, and has to eat precisely eight hours before he goes to sleep in order to keep his heart rate at a steady 44 beats per minute. He eats zero animal products and lives in constant fear of “heavy metals” entering his body through his food. A standard breakfast is broccoli, cauliflower, black lentils, and hemp seeds. Unsurprisingly, he lives in a “constant state of light hunger.”
There is an extreme irony in the fact that, in his pursuit to reach superhuman levels of health, Johnson has to live like a sick person. He spends large portions of each day hooked up to various machines. He gets regular plasma transfusions, including from his 19-year-old son, to get rid of any ‘toxins’ in his body. For all that effort, he pretty much looks his age.
Johnson is obviously an extreme example of the lengths to which people will go to conquer death. And it’s certainly not historically uncommon for billionaires, leaders, and other kinds of eccentrics to obsess over this stuff. But this kind of mentality has trickled down to us normal people, too. Everywhere you look, people—especially young people—are pledging their lives to living forever. Young people are increasingly swearing off alcohol, citing health concerns. They are far more likely than their parents to be vegan, or at least vegetarian, for both environmental and health reasons. They obsess over skincare, which is no longer just about washing your face but now involves a whole manner of wacky-looking contraptions that would make an Inquisition torturer blush. ‘Intermittent fasting,’ ‘keto,’ and Ozempic are all phrases no longer confined to esoteric health blogs, but things you might hear your colleagues discuss over lunch. Practically everyone goes to the gym or regularly exercises now, whether it’s Pilates, HIIT, Peloton, or whatever else is trending this week. Apple Watches and Oura Rings give us a constant running tally of our daily stats—heart rate, steps, calories burnt—like we’re human Pokémon cards.
Taking care of yourself is obviously not a bad thing. Most of us are aiming and hoping to live long and healthy lives, where possible. But this level of obsession with our bodies is itself deeply unhealthy. Once you start, it’s difficult to stop. In the words of Patrick Bateman, “You can always be thinner, look better.” The stress alone of tracking every aspect of life is probably undoing any good it might do in the first place. Turning yourself into a lab rat means having to live in almost total isolation from the rest of the world. You can’t eat normal food, go out with friends, enjoy spontaneous trips or indulge on holiday. You become a monk without any of the spiritual comforts that brings. What’s the point in living a few extra years if you can’t even enjoy them?
Xi and Putin, like so many rulers before them, are in search of the impossible. It’s unlikely either of them will succeed in their lifetimes. Nor, I suspect, will Bryan Johnson or the other tech bros who religiously follow his masochistic regimen. Until scientists crack the code of regenerating organs, cryogenics, or uploading the human consciousness into the Cloud, death will remain a fact of life. The best any of us can do is live well with the time we’re given—and not waste it trying not to die.
Who Wants to Live Forever?
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin walks with China’s President Xi Jinping in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on September 3, 2025.
Alexander Kazakov / POOL / AFP
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Like a scene out of a Bond film, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping have been caught plotting how to achieve immortality. During the ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Beijing yesterday, the Russian and Chinese leaders—both 72 years old—spoke to each other in what they thought was a private conversation, conducted through interpreters and aired on Chinese state television. “Biotechnology is continuously developing,” Putin told Xi. “Human organs can be continuously transplanted. The longer you live, the younger you become, and [you can] even achieve immortality.” Xi appeared to express interest in this, claiming that “some predict that in this century humans may live to 150 years old.”
The science behind these assertions is dubious, to say the least. But that hasn’t deterred Putin from obsessing over his health and lifespan. One investigation found that Mikhail Kovalchuk, who is close to Putin, is at the head of a research programme into immortality. Reports suggest that he is funding organ-harvesting technology that uses lab-grown cells to produce replacement organs. Putin’s eldest daughter, an endocrinologist, has also received millions of dollars’ worth of grants from the Kremlin with the aim of studying cell renewal and how to extend human life.
It makes perfect sense that the likes of Xi and Putin would be interested in prolonging their own lives—and, presumably, their reigns. But it also speaks to a very human desire to live forever. It may well be one of the oldest human obsessions. Western mythologies, folk tales, and literature are filled with fantastical stories about people who attain immortality and sacred objects that might grant it—the Philosopher’s Stone, the Fountain of Youth, the Holy Grail. For as long as we have been telling each other stories, we have been preoccupied with tales of immortality.
Of course, the ability to live forever was not always seen as a positive thing. The Wandering Jew was cursed to walk the Earth forever until the Second Coming. Prometheus was given a regenerating liver, only for it to be eternally picked at by the eagle. Zombies, vampires, and ghosts are all suffering through a kind of immortality, from which there is often no release.
For anyone who believes in an afterlife, the prospect of spending eternity on Earth is probably not that appealing. As a Christian, you believe in life everlasting in Heaven. Muslims look to Paradise after the Day of Judgement. Hindus and Buddhists seek a release from the cycle of death and rebirth. Even the ancient Greeks and Norse believed that life continued in Elysium and Valhalla after this world. The physical body withers away, while the soul lives on.
In our atheistic times, this is no longer the case. People might have a vague sense that there is something after death, but there are no guarantees. We see more and more people obsessed with the idea of keeping their physical vessels alive—or at least looking youthful—for as long as possible. Being healthy and staying fit nowadays isn’t just a case of eating right and exercising. It’s a confusing, if not slightly bogus, science. ‘Biohacking,’ plastic surgery ‘tweakments,’ vampire facials, and endless supplements are all standard features of the modern discourse on self-care.
As extreme as this already is, some take it even further. If you spend a decent amount of time on X, you will likely have come across a man called Bryan Johnson. He’s a tech billionaire who made his fortune developing devices that monitor brain activity. But he is more famous for his preoccupation with not dying, at all costs. Johnson is 47 years old and dedicates what looks like practically all his time to tracking his every bodily function. He has a team of 30 scientists measuring his weight, heart rate, blood pressure, urination speed, and even how long his nighttime erections last. He exercises for one hour a day, every day, takes 50 supplements, and has to eat precisely eight hours before he goes to sleep in order to keep his heart rate at a steady 44 beats per minute. He eats zero animal products and lives in constant fear of “heavy metals” entering his body through his food. A standard breakfast is broccoli, cauliflower, black lentils, and hemp seeds. Unsurprisingly, he lives in a “constant state of light hunger.”
There is an extreme irony in the fact that, in his pursuit to reach superhuman levels of health, Johnson has to live like a sick person. He spends large portions of each day hooked up to various machines. He gets regular plasma transfusions, including from his 19-year-old son, to get rid of any ‘toxins’ in his body. For all that effort, he pretty much looks his age.
Johnson is obviously an extreme example of the lengths to which people will go to conquer death. And it’s certainly not historically uncommon for billionaires, leaders, and other kinds of eccentrics to obsess over this stuff. But this kind of mentality has trickled down to us normal people, too. Everywhere you look, people—especially young people—are pledging their lives to living forever. Young people are increasingly swearing off alcohol, citing health concerns. They are far more likely than their parents to be vegan, or at least vegetarian, for both environmental and health reasons. They obsess over skincare, which is no longer just about washing your face but now involves a whole manner of wacky-looking contraptions that would make an Inquisition torturer blush. ‘Intermittent fasting,’ ‘keto,’ and Ozempic are all phrases no longer confined to esoteric health blogs, but things you might hear your colleagues discuss over lunch. Practically everyone goes to the gym or regularly exercises now, whether it’s Pilates, HIIT, Peloton, or whatever else is trending this week. Apple Watches and Oura Rings give us a constant running tally of our daily stats—heart rate, steps, calories burnt—like we’re human Pokémon cards.
Taking care of yourself is obviously not a bad thing. Most of us are aiming and hoping to live long and healthy lives, where possible. But this level of obsession with our bodies is itself deeply unhealthy. Once you start, it’s difficult to stop. In the words of Patrick Bateman, “You can always be thinner, look better.” The stress alone of tracking every aspect of life is probably undoing any good it might do in the first place. Turning yourself into a lab rat means having to live in almost total isolation from the rest of the world. You can’t eat normal food, go out with friends, enjoy spontaneous trips or indulge on holiday. You become a monk without any of the spiritual comforts that brings. What’s the point in living a few extra years if you can’t even enjoy them?
Xi and Putin, like so many rulers before them, are in search of the impossible. It’s unlikely either of them will succeed in their lifetimes. Nor, I suspect, will Bryan Johnson or the other tech bros who religiously follow his masochistic regimen. Until scientists crack the code of regenerating organs, cryogenics, or uploading the human consciousness into the Cloud, death will remain a fact of life. The best any of us can do is live well with the time we’re given—and not waste it trying not to die.
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